Building a small tomato greenhouse yourself can be done within a few hours with a little manual skill. The required use of materials is far below 100 euros. Nevertheless, a solid point foundation should also be prepared on which the new building will stand stably.

Tomatoes feel right at home behind glass

It does not always have to be built large or massive and a permit is usually not required either. Hence it is very little effort, when ambitious allotment gardeners simply assemble their tomato greenhouse themselves, because the required material can also be bought together quickly and cheaply.

The simplest variant for a tomato greenhouse

In our example, it should be a 200 by 200 cm house, in which all wall and window elements are omitted and therefore only a stable wooden frame has to be made, which is finally covered with a durable greenhouse film (15.90 €). A poured point foundation is prepared at all four corners as a stable basis, which ends at ground level. We do without a complex roof drainage because we a sloping roof to take into account. With a height of 200 cm (180 cm at the back), people of normal stature can work upright and therefore comfortably.

The material requirements for do-it-yourselfers

As a guide, you could write down the following material on your shopping list for the hardware store;

  • 8 squared timbers 200 x 8 x 8 cm (4 corner pillars and 1 additional pillar every 100 cm);
  • 4 squared timbers 200 x 8 x 4 cm (one on each side for the horizontal connection between the corner pillars);
  • at least 25 m2 of plastic foil (UV-stabilised grid foil with nail edge);
  • Wood screws, nails, metal angles (if possible made of stainless steel);
  • Electric tacker with steel staples (can be borrowed from hardware stores)
  • Impregnation agent for wood and, if necessary, varnish
  • Jigsaw, (36.18€) foxtail, drill, (97.00€) screwdriver, hammer, scissors, knife, brush;

Before the scaffolding is assembled, the wood should be completely covered with a impregnating protective varnish. Since rot develops quickly, especially near the ground, we decided not to use an additional ring anchor right from the start in our example, also because of the previously made stable point foundation. If everything is correct, all you have to do is cut the film strip by strip and attach it to the wood.

Interior and soil in the tomato greenhouse

Due to the small area available, planting is best done at ground level. For the rearing of young plants, somewhat smaller shelves can still be set up, in which the pots in towards the lighter outer walls find their temporary place before they are transferred to the prepared garden soil of the greenhouse a few weeks later.

tips

The film should lie as straight and tight as possible on the outer edges of the planks and slats from top to bottom, without creating a large gap towards the ground. To prevent water from accumulating on the roof surface, it helps if you cover some places Poke holes two to three millimeters wide with a small nail drill.

Category:

Garden design